After Salat al-`Isha at As-Siddiq Mosque
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
Kalimatan khafeefatan ala al-lisan thaqeelatan ala al-mizan: SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi subhanAllahu al-'azheem.
Two words light on the tongue heavy on the scales: SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi subhanAllahu al-'azheem.
As we said earlier this afternoon, discussing what our Lord Allah (swt) has given to whom He likes; a level that no one can reach except one (s). Whatever they try, it is not possible for anyone as it has been given only for one, whom Allah (swt) created to dress him with that characteristic. So that one has to carry all different manifestations that Allah (swt) is giving to humanity, first has to go through that one (s) and from him it spreads to everyone else.
That is why we said that a child always runs toward his father. Like Mersad here; his son is attached to him, and if his son says right now, “I want to go out,” can he say to him, “No?” He cannot; he has to take him out because of love. Allah (swt) made Sayyidina `Isa “Ruhullah” (Spirit of Allah), Sayyidina Musa “Kaleemullah” (Speaks with Allah), and Sayyidina `Ibraheem “Khaleelullah” (Friend of Allah). You can say `Isa Ruhullah but you cannot say Allah Ruhu `Isa! You can say Musa Kaleemullah, but you cannot say Allah Kaleem Musa. You can say `Ibraheem Khaleelullah, but you cannot say Allah Khaleelu `Ibraheem. But you can say Muhammad Habeebullah and you can say Allah Habeebu Muhammad. Sayyidina Muhammad is the beloved of Allah, and the beloved of Muhammad is Allah (swt). The one who is beloved to Allah (swt) has to be given everything.
What happened to Mersad? He left! His son told him, "Come out," and he went out. Allah (swt) will not leave anything that He wants to give to humanity without it passing through His lover. First it has to go through the door, it has to first go through Sayyidina Muhammad (stands, salawat). It first has to go through Rasoolullah (s) and then from Prophet (s) it has to be divided or reflected to humanity. It is like rays from the center of a circle: one might receive thin rays, another will receive thick rays, but everyone will receive something. From the center to the circumference, how many radius' can you have? If a circle is 10 inches or yards in diameter, or has a length of 10 feet, how many radius' can there be from the center to the circumference? Does anyone know? Or five feet in diameter. From the center of the circle of five feet in diameter, how many radius' from center to the circumference? Infinite.
So whether you go smaller or bigger it is still infinite because radius' can be thinner than a hair and can be thicker than the universe. This universe is a huge universe; it is a circle and the circle has to have a center. Can there be a circle without a center? So in the universe, this galaxy that we are seeing, where is the center? There must be a center, a focal point that you say is the center and from there infinite numbers of radius' go everywhere. Where is the center of this universe? The most important point in the universe must be the one whom Allah (swt) gave the universe. He is the focal point! He is the one whom the poet Imam al-Busairi said, huwa 'l-habeeb alladhee turja shafa`atahu. Li-kulli hawlin mina 'l-ahwali muqtahami. "Beloved by Allah is he, upon whose pleading we depend. From the terrors of the Day of Judgment, which on us descend." He is the lover and everyone is seeking his shafa`, intercession against every difficulty. Is that shafa` given to you or this one or that one? No, it is given to only one and he is the center of the universe.
You cannot say laa ilaaha illa-Llah without saying Muhammadun Rasoolullah (s) or else your imaan is not complete. La ilaaha illa-Llah hasbee wa Muhammadun Rasoolullah hubbee. The reality of the love that Allah (swt) gave to His beloved one, He did not give it to anyone. (Mawlana stands, salawat) So that means he is the center of the universe. When Allah (swt) wants to look at His universe, He looks at Sayyidina Muhammad (s). If you are a king, where do you look first? You first look at the ministers or cabinet of minsters who are around you. This is in worldly life and is well-known. In heavenly life, when the Creator, Rabb al-`Alameen, Lord of the Worlds, wants to look, He looks in every moment and first His Look manifests on His beloved; the secrets of all His Beautiful Names and Attributes. He is the beloved one and everyone is in need of his shafa`, his intercession.
That is why when the blind man came to the Prophet (s) and said, "Yaa Rasoolullah (s), O Messenger of Allah (swt) I would like to come and pray with you at Fajr time but I am blind and it is very difficult to come. I have no one to help take me to be with you. Can you teach me a du`a that can make me see?" Who can make a blind person see? When someone loses his eyesight, how can you bring his vision back? There is no more light in the eyes, it is gone. The Prophet (s) said to him, "Can you be patient?" He said, "I cannot be patient. I can be patient but out of love to you I want to come and pray with you and at least to hear your voice but it is difficult for me. I want a prayer that will cause me to see." And wasn´t the Prophet (s) able to put his finger on his eyes and make him see again? Yes, he can say, "Be" and it is. Through that blind man he wants to teach us something we can use in the future, to use that du`a to solve our problems. And he said, "Go to the wudu place, make ablution and pray two raka`ats, and then say this prayer." It means a du`a will not be effective if you don´t make wudu and perform two raka`ats.
People pray but they don´t get benefit because they don´t make ablution. They don´t pray two raka`ats. They don´t take the benefit of the du`a. They are not cleaning themselves. So wash up, wash your hands, face, arms, feet, and hair and then pray two raka`ats and the following prayer: Allahumma innee asaluka atawajahu ilayk bi nabiyyika Muhammad (s), Nabiyyu 'r-rahma. "O Allah! I am asking You and directing myself to You through Your Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s). I cannot come to You without him. I am coming to You through Your Prophet (s)." Then you say, "Yaa Muhammad!" O Muhammad. He is teaching him to say, "Yaa Muhammad! (stands and recites, yaa Muhammad, yaa Muhammad, yaa Muhammad!) He is calling upon the Prophet (s). He told him, "You have to come to Allah (swt) through me." And he said, "Yaa Muhammad! Innee atawajahu bika ila Rabbee. "I am seeking Allah (swt) through you, with your company. Without your company I cannot." You cannot enter a king's area without permission of the royal son or someone who is responsible. Allah (swt) gave Sayyidina Muhammad (s) the responsibility of bringing anyone he likes; he is the means.
When people have problems they should read that du`a and their problem will be solved. Yaa Muhammad! Innee atawajjahu bika ila Rabbee fee haajati haadhihi li-tuqda lee. Allahumma shaffi`hu fiyya. "O Muhammad! I am turning to My Lord, taking you as a means for my request to be granted. O Allah, grant me his intercession. O Allah (swt) give him authority to intercede for Your honor in Your Presence."
So that blind old man read that du`a. If you have a problem recite that prayer. If you don't have it, Taher can print it for you, it is on the computer already. You can read it seven times a day and inshaa-Allah that will solve your problem. So that blind man went and read it and immediately his sight came back. He ran to the Prophet (s) the next day during Fajr and was able to see Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That means when your shaykh opens the sight of your heart, you can see the Prophet (s). When the Prophet (s) opens the sight of your heart it is in the Divine Presence and you can see what people cannot see, you can hear what people cannot hear, and you can say what people cannot say of knowledge.
Why did Allah (swt) dress His Prophet (s) with all of this? Because He created His Prophet (s) humble. The reality of humbleness attracts the love of your Lord. If there is no humbleness, you will be full of darkness, and negative energy, when you are arrogant and proud of yourself. No one is proud of himself or herself except devils. They think they are everything. Also suicide bombers think they are doing something for the benefit of others, but they are are doing the worst because they are brainwashed and they are filled with anger. May Allah (swt) protect us from anger; it is the worst characteristic.
About Sayyidina Muhammad (s) al-Busayri said, Huwa al-Habeeb, "he is the lover." That means there is no one else. He is the one and only lover. Like Qul hu Allahu ahad. Say: He is the Unique One, Allah (swt). When you say, Habeebuh, it confirms that he is the lover and you need his intercession (s).
So we continue the story of this afternoon. Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahraar was going with his students on a journey. Saints like to take their followers on a journey so that they live, eat, sleep and learn together. Like Husayn who came from Chicago bringing 15-20 students. Where is he? He is hiding. How many did you bring? Sixteen, and with yourself is seventeen. So one plus seven equals eight, it is a good number. So on the journey they learn more. People learn more. They will face obstacles and difficulties together and thus they polish their ego. It is not like the ones on television, they have this show called "Amazing Race". You see they are so angry, so jealous, and they are teaching them arrogance instead of humbleness; fighting, and running. Awliyaa, saints take their followers and their only teaching is good knowledge, showing them the way and eating as I said in the afternoon. What do they eat? Dry bread. They dip it in water and eat it.
So `Ubaydullah al-Ahraar took 700 of his students, not 16. All of them were dressed in white because white is a sign of purity and they were walking by the Nile River against the stream. The river was streaming down and they were going up. And they were praying all day, eating, and listening to the suhbahs of their shaykh all day. For every prayer there was one lecture, and learning the journey of gnostics. When evening comes, by nine or ten o'clock they pray `Isha and go to sleep. No, television. What do they do today? They bring the television, and they also bring a big pot of chips and snacks to make them fatter and fatter, and they don't eat one box, they eat 10 boxes. They are wasting the time of people. There, at that time, there was nothing. I remember in our time when we were young, there was nothing so what did we used to do at night? We used to read books. Do you read books? No. Don't lie to me, don't worry about it. Anyone here who reads books at night? And the rest watch television. Yeah. So nowadays they have taken away people's ability of learning by giving an alternative which is worth nothing. They show them the news to make everyone worried and depressed. So after sunset by two or three hours, they have to sleep and wake up early in the morning.
So as he was taking them one night all of them slept as usual. But you know in Islam you cannot pray if you are not clean. So that night all of them needed to take a shower. All of them had a pleasurable dream, they had an accident. So all of them needed to take shower because they cannot pray without a shower. They woke up before their teacher, and they found this one, that one, they all needed a shower. Why did they need to shower? They didn't see anything but we know if an angel touches you, you will immediately feel that pleasure and an accident happens. All of them had been touched by an angel that night as they slept in a pure way. Their teacher purified them. They needed to take a shower. They went to the river to take a shower and the river was boiling like Yellowstone. Can you take a shower in Yellowstone? No, it's burning. They couldn't take a shower, so they don't know what to do.
The shaykh woke up and asked, "What happened?" They said, "Yaa Sayyidee, the water is boiling." He said, "Make tayyamum with sand." They made tayyamum and prayed, and the sun rose. Then the shaykh said, "Let us go see why the Nile River is boiling." You need a whole system to make the water boil because that water is moving hundreds of million of gallons of water in one second. How could it be boiling? It cannot be boiled by a stove or ordinary means. Maybe there was a volcano. You are not writing. (To someone in the audience) Why did he open his book? Never mind, it is okay. So let us see the secret. Why is it boiling? They began to move up further and they found an old man sitting on a rock and his feet were in the river. They approached and approached, as they approached, the river was boiling more and more at a very high temperature. Not 100 degrees centigrade, but more. They arrived and found Muhammad al-Busairi, the author of this poem sitting there. He was reciting, mawlaya salli wa sallim daa'iman abadan, but he was not able to get the continuation of that verse so he kept repeating it while putting his feet in the Nile and his heart connected to his lover, Sayyidina Muhammad (s). He was stuck on that verse, mawlaya salli wassalim da-iman abadan. (Mawlana stands.)
Then at that point the ruhaniyyah of the Prophet (s) appeared to him spiritually and continued the verse for him. "Say! `Ala habeebika khayril-khalqi kullihimi." So from that very strong love, his body became so hot that the water of Nile was boiling. And for that wisdom Sayyidina Ubaydullah said, "We came to see Muhammad al-Busairi and to witness him seeing the Prophet's (s) ruhaniyyah, spiritual presence that appeared in his vision to continue the verse."
So with all of that love from Allah (swt) to His Prophet, Allah (swt) said:
أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى
alam yajidka yateeman fa-aawa.
Did We not find you, yaa Muhammad, as an orphan, and He gave you shelter? (93:6)
He was an orphan from his mother and father. First his father died when the Prophet was four months in the womb of his mother Sayyida Aminah, and then his mother died when he was 7 years old and then he was left in the care of his grandfather Abdul Mutallib and his uncle. So that is why Allah (swt) said:
فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ
fa amma 'l-yateema falaa taqhar.
Therefore do not oppress the orphan." (93:9)
Don't be tough on orphans. Help orphans. Be good to orphans and look after them. Because if you look after orphans, we are all orphans, our real father is Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (stands) He is the Messenger of Allah and because of that he is responsible for the ummah. The symbol of the father is the symbol of responsibility to the family. We are all in need of his (s) shafa`. Still he was orphaned and orphans need help. There are so many without a father and mother. How many did we see in Indonesia on our last trip? Everywhere we went, to schools, they have 400-500 orphans with no father and no mother. You have a father and a mother, you have to be happy. We met many of them on different occasions and their clothes were patched, their shoes were plastic, and their food was rice, they have nothing. So what do they need? They need help. Alam yajidka yateeman fa-aawa. "He found you as an orphan and sheltered you and He gave you what you need." It means that Allah (swt) will give if you help. It means to help each other, and help the orphans around the world. That is why I am bringing this auction tonight, to raise funds for orphans.
Dhikr now. Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.